Crumble
by kaeh96
Summary: AU. First of a three-part story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey alll so this is the first of a three-part story soooo yeah enjoy and yes I'm absolutely devastated that Intelligence got cancelled...it's just not fair :(**

**I do not own Intelligence and/or its affiliates (although I might as well because then IT WOULDN'T BE CANCELLED UGH)**

* * *

_"__When you dance, I wish you a wave o' the sea, that you might ever do nothing but that."_

_-William Shakespeare_

* * *

_April, 2013_

"Riley! We're moving to the floor now!"

Fourteen-year-old Riley Neal looked up to see everyone in her pointe level 3 class had moved from the ballet barre to various spread out positions across the floor.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed, feeling her face turn red. She didn't even dare look up to the observation room where she knew her mother was sitting, most likely frustrated that her daughter wasn't focusing.

But Riley couldn't help it, her head had been killing her for weeks, and it was now affecting her sleep; she'd barely gotten five hours the previous night.

She pushed through the rest of her ballet class, and scurried out once it was over. She trudged into the "den" where all the dancers kept their bags, and she could barely get a quiet minute to herself when her nine-year-old sister's tap class came storming in.

"Riley! Is mom still upstairs?" Her sister, Lauren asked, almost having to yell over all the other kids.

Riley could only manage a nod as she stuffed her pointe shoes into her bag and slid her flip-flops back on, making her way out of the den and into the front lobby. She sat down on a bench as she waited for her sister and her mother, resting her head in her hands and rubbing her temples, hoping for some sort of relief. Her headaches had been ongoing for a few months, but she'd noticed that they'd recently gotten much worse, to the point where she couldn't focus on anything. Nothing in her environment seemed to affect them; whether it was loud and sunny or silent and dark, her head hurt.

She looked up to see Lauren and their mother finally making their way towards her, and she nearly had to sit back down again when she tried to stand up.

"Goodness Riley, make sure you drink lots of water when we get home." Amelia Neal said to her daughter.

Riley simply dragged her feet as she fell in behind them and they made their way to their car.

Riley had been waiting for a mini-lecture from their mother, and it finally came when they were halfway home, about fifteen minutes into their drive.

"Riley, why weren't you paying attention? I pay good money for your ballet lessons, and your teachers have nothing but good things to say when it comes to you and your talent, and you know if you want to be in a professional ballet company, you're going to have to focus! I'm not upset or mad I'm just wondering why you can't listen for more than two minutes!"

Riley sighed,

"Mom, my head was hurting a lot more today, and it kept me up last night. Naturally, I was exhausted and in a lot of pain. I'm sorry, I know I have to focus but it just hurts so much, I can't even explain it."

They reached a stop light, and Amelia reached over, touching the back of her hand to Riley's forehead,

"Well, you don't have a fever. Make sure you have at least a bottle of water before bed tonight, don't stay up on your phone, and you can take an Advil PM, alright?"

Riley nodded, thankful for her mother's understanding.

* * *

It was nearly 11, and Riley was just as restless as ever, despite the fact that she'd followed her mother's advice and had gotten into bed almost an hour ago.

Bored, she unplugged her white iPhone 4S from its charger, unlocked it, went to her messages, and tapped on the first conversation.

_Gabriel._

_"__You still awake? My head hurts so bad :("_

She knew her boyfriend of seven months was most likely asleep, but it was worth a shot.

She gave up on a reply ten minutes later, so she simply plugged her phone back in, rolled over, and did her best to relax and keep her mind busy. However, the pain had slightly subsided, and yet she still couldn't get her body to relax, as though some odd force of nature was keeping her awake.

She tossed and turned, until she finally exhausted herself, simply from shifting positions.

* * *

At 4, Riley woke with her eyes blurred and her stomach in knots. She made her way as fast as she could to her bathroom, just barely making it to the toilet. She thrust open the lid, pulled her dark brown hair back, and released the nonexistent contents of her stomach. As she vomited, she felt how physically exhausted she was, yet now her mind was wide awake, and her head hurt more than ever. Feeling weak, she simply flushed the toilet, rinsed out her mouth, and curled up on the soft rug in the middle of her bathroom, the cold floor beneath her bringing a strange sense of comfort and relief.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: :) :) :)**

**I do not own Intelligence and/or its affiliates.**

* * *

_"__Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."_

_-Thomas Edison_

* * *

"Riley, are you in there?" Riley heard her younger sister's voice calling from the other side of the door.

"Lauren, go away, I'm up. Tell mom I'll be down in twenty minutes."

Riley rubbed her eyes, and stood up. She decided to brush her hair and her teeth first, feeling like a zombie the entire time.

When she finally made it downstairs, just five minutes before she had to leave for school, her mom looked at her, concerned,

"Riley, I thought I heard something last night, are you okay?"

"I uh, got…sick in the middle of the night. My head was pounding and my eyes were all blurry and I threw up. I was so tired I fell asleep on the bathroom floor."

"Oh honey, you aren't going to school today. Go back to bed, I'll call the school and take Lauren, and then I have to go to work, but I want you to call me when you wake up, okay?"

Riley breathed a sigh of relief,

"Thank you, so much. And yes, I will, promise."

Amelia pulled her daughter into a hug and kissed the top of her head,

"I'll be back this afternoon, okay?"

Riley nodded, and made her way back upstairs.

She settled back into bed, and pulled out her phone, seeing that she had two texts from Gabriel,

"_Hey, sorry I was already asleep. You should see if you can go to the doctor :("_

_"__Are you coming today? Feel better, talk to you soon"_

She smiled a little, and replied,

_"__Yeah I got sick in the middle of the night so mom is letting me stay home but I'll see you tomorrow 3"_

She stuffed her phone under her pillow, and, exhausted, drifted off into light sleep.

* * *

Riley awoke again three hours later, her head spinning and her stomach growling. She went downstairs, made herself a bowl of ramen noodles, and sat at the little kitchen table, finding it difficult to read the calendar and the digital clock on the microwave. She shook her head, deciding it was just plain weird, and debated taking Gabriel's advice and asking for a doctor's appointment. She continued thinking about it as she finished her food, put her dishes in the sink, and moved to the living room. She sprawled out on a couch, convinced that the pounding she could hear in her ears was not her heart but her head, something that was completely dramatic and unrealistic, but Riley didn't care. She closed her eyes, willing the pain to stop. What she guessed was a couple hours passed, with her simply laying there in silence, restless despite her closed eyes, when her mother came home.

"Riley! I'm home! Where are you sweetie?" She called out.

"In here mom." Riley realized how miserable she sounded.

'_At least it finally reflects how I feel'_ she thought.

"Still not feeling any better?" Amelia walked over to her daughter.

Riley shook her head, mustered up some confidence, and spoke up,

"Can I go to the doctor? I can't take this anymore."

Amelia was slightly taken aback, but knew her daughter was in serious pain.

"Of course sweetie. Want to see Dr. Simmons, or Dr. Anders?"

Dr. Simmons was Riley's neurologist, and Dr. Anders was her pediatrician. At the mention of her neurologist, Riley suddenly remembered the cyst that had been sitting in her brain for the past six months. She perked up,

"Oh, Dr. Simmons definitely. My cyst could be causing my headaches!"

Amelia agreed with her daughter,

"Alright, I'll go call for an appointment."

With that, she left, and Riley continued to speculate. She'd been diagnosed with a cyst on her pineal gland after she'd been having slight headaches, moodiness, and troubles sleeping. The pineal gland was in the center of the brain, and at the time it had been determined that the headaches were a combination of stress, insomnia, and the cyst itself while the moodiness was a side effect of the insomnia and the pain. However, Riley had been told that she had to have an annual MRI to check on the cyst, since at the time it was harmless at just 1 centimeter in diameter. She didn't know how that could possibly have anything to do with what was going on, aside from the fact that it could have shifted positions, but she knew it was better to be safe and have it checked.

_'__I don't think I could take another six months of this anyways…'_

Content with her decision, she walked into the kitchen to find her mom on the phone. Riley waited a few minutes until she hung up, then looked at her anxiously.

"Well he did put in an order for an MRI, which will be when we go to see him..in two weeks."

Riley rolled her eyes. _Of course_ it would take forever to get an appointment.

_'__Stupid American outpatient specialty care'_

* * *

When Riley went into school the next morning, she was greeted by Gabriel's warm arms,

"Glad to see you're alive!"

She smiled at him and took in his embrace, taking in his classic smell of sweet peppermint.

"Well if it weren't for you I wouldn't have thought of going to my neurologist to see what's up."

Gabriel's eyebrows raised,

"Wow, I'm impressed Sherlock."

He winked and she blushed; she always loved how he teased her in such a snarky yet gentle way.

"Oh hush, I can be smart sometimes."

He kissed her cheek lightly, and whispered in her ear,

"You're the smartest girl I know all the time."

Their peace was disturbed by the sound of the bell,

"Well, off to hell we go." Riley said frankly, and with that, they headed off.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: BE EXCITED FOR THE NEXT PART WOOH**

**I do not own Intelligence and/or any of its affiliates**

* * *

_"__Alone, all alone; nobody but nobody can make it out here alone."_

_-Maya Angelou_

* * *

Two weeks later, Riley sat with goosebumps on her bare legs, her mother completely unaware as she read email on her phone. Lauren was at dance for the next four hours, much to Riley's relief; she didn't need her sister stressing her out even more. She glanced at the last text message on her phone one last time,

_"__Hey whatever happens, you're gonna be just fine, I know it. Let me know what's happening, good luck :)"_

It was from Gabriel, of course. She smiled and knew he was thinking of her, and just that simple gesture brought an incredible sense of comfort.

"Riley?"

Riley and Amelia looked up to see Dr. Simmons standing there.

"Hi, how are you?" Riley stood and asked him softly.

"I'm good, how are you?"

"I've been okay aside from these headaches!" She replied with a little laugh.

He nodded and smiled at her,

"Okay mom, I'm going to go ahead and take her for an MRI right away, and I'll let you know when it's done. It shouldn't be more than half an hour until we have results."

Amelia nodded, thankful that since they were high-priority, the scan itself would only take twenty minutes and the images would take ten to fifteen to analyze.

* * *

Riley followed Dr. Simmons into the room with the MRI scanner, put in earplugs and laid down on the sliding bed once he was finished preparing it for her. She remembered what to do from the last time, and before she knew it she was looking up at a blank white ceiling. Her hand rested on the soft blanket he'd given her to keep her legs warm (the hospital gown wasn't exactly made to block out air conditioning blasting on bare skin.

Riley closed her eyes as she felt the machine turn and make various noises, knowing that the images of her brain were being sent to the observation screen on the MRI technician's computer in real time, and how Dr. Simmons was glancing over the shoulder of the technician, his trained eyes criticizing the scans and looking for even the slightest flaw. She let her breathing relax as she remained completely still, trying her best to keep her heartbeat as regular as possible. The minutes passed, and soon she heard a faint voice over the intercom letting her know they were done.

The technician came in to get her, and when they stepped out, she noticed that Dr. Simmons was gone. Nevertheless, she walked back to the room she'd left her clothes and phone in and changed back, making her way out into the waiting room with the technician when she was done.

"Ms. Neal, you and your daughter can wait here until Dr. Simmons comes back."

Amelia smiled up at them,

"Thank you."

Riley took a shaky breath as she settled back into the chair next to her mother.

"How was it?" Amelia asked.

Riley shrugged,

"Same I guess. I think I was a little bit more nervous this time."

Amelia pushed Riley's hair out of her bright blue eyes, a look of understanding in her matching set,

"Was it just as comfy?" She asked with a smile.

Riley laughed a little,

"Yes, actually it was still very comfortable."

They chuckled, and went back to reading; Amelia returning to her phone and Riley deciding to flip through one of the magazines on the counter.

* * *

"Riley, Ms. Neal, if you'll follow me?" Dr. Simmons breathlessly headed back out to the waiting room, gesturing for the Neals to follow. Riley suddenly felt a knot start to twist in her stomach, something telling her there was an issue. She noticed a bright streak of blonde hair in her peripheral vision as they quickly made their way down the hallway and into an examination room.

"Please, sit."

Riley sat on the examination table while Amelia sat in one of the blue cushioned chairs, Dr. Simmons sitting in a black rolling office chair. Once he positioned himself between them, he looked at each of them and began,

"Well Riley, I'm glad that you decided to come to me. As you know, you were diagnosed with a pineal cyst that, because it was only 1 centimeter in diameter when it started causing issues, we determined was uncertain yet more than likely benign. Now, 2% of the world's population has a benign pineal cyst that is less than 1.5 centimeters in diameter, and even fewer with one that is larger than that, so clearly it isn't a big deal and is very common."

He paused and gulped, beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead. He suddenly looked at Riley with a pained look of sorrow on his face.

"But?" Amelia pressed.

"But, in your case, the growth is no longer considered a benign cyst, but a tumor, because it has quadrupled in size, giving it a diameter of 4 centimeters."


End file.
